Pathfinder 2nd Edition

Pathfinder 2nd Edition
Created by	Paizo Publishing
Published	August 2019
Genres	Fantasy
Dice	d20, d12, d10, d8, d6, d4

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Pathfinder, 2nd Edition is a substantial revision of Pathfinder 1st Edition intended to apply innovative change to the system and rein in balance on the Pathfinder system which had previously run out of control with incremental content. Many of its changes parallel those made in D&D 4th Edition, although not all changes made in that system are propagated. Since it still has roots in D&D 3rd and 3.5th Edition, it remains available under the Open Game License. In 2023, due to the attempts by Wizards of the Coast to revise the OGL, a new edition was announced which removed some material distinctive to D&D and re-licensed the system under the Open RPG Creative license.

Significant changes made include:

• Introduction of a gradated success mechanic; "Critical Hits" and "Critical Failures" are now achieved by beating particular target thresholds rather than single rolls on a dice, and are assigned special effects on almost all rolls.
• Strong focus on "actions" presented in self-contained boxes in the style of D&D 4th Edition.
• Very strong quantification of skill uses, with specific "actions" covering multiple standard applications of skills.
• Introduction of a level modifier with an additional stacked proficiency modifier.
• Removal of standard d20 multiclassing, replaced with a feat based system.

Benefits

• Strong company support; in active and continuous development.
• Heavy rectification of caster supremacy, perhaps even overcorrecting in the other direction.
• As a "newer game", it's relatively easy to get people who only play D&D 5th Edition to try it.

Problems

• The Build still reigns supreme.
• Extremely complicated initial character generation, actually intimidating for some new players.
• The graduated success mechanic slows down the game dramatically, as rolls that would be "obviously a success" in previous d20 games must now be calculated exactly to see if they are criticals.
• Game balance still not perfect due to a small combination of overpowered options, and the ability for PCs to manipulate critical frequency.

d20 systems

13th Age • Dungeons & Dragons (3rd and 3.5 Edition, 4th Edition, 5th Edition) • Gamma World • Lancer • Level Up • Mutants & Masterminds • Pathfinder (1st Edition, 2nd Edition), Shadow of the Demon Lord